Lies and More Lies, part two

The household was thick with tension. Leta had just interrupted an argument between her twelve-year-old son and her husband. The two had been arguing about shoes. Apparently, her son Dale had left his on the living room floor, and his stepfather had stumbled over them when he arrived home after work. Leta was in the kitchen. Supper was ready to put on the table, and she had taken a few moments on the back stoop to enjoy a cigarette. She was unaware of the conflict until the voices escalated loudly enough for her to hear them.

Leech was furious. He called Dale an ungrateful brat and threatened to throw the boy out of the house to live on the streets. Dale had called Leech a mean and ugly monster who hated everyone but himself. Leech threatened to beat the boy senseless. Dale stood behind a chair and encouraged him to try. When Leta arrived on the scene and demanded to know the reason for the row, Dale took the opportunity to storm upstairs to his bedroom. This left Leta alone with her temperamental husband, who turned his fury toward her

“This is not going to happen in my house, Mrs. Hoose,” he snarled. “I am not going to trip over children’s things. I am not going to have children underfoot. You either get your brats under control, or I’m throwing them out on their asses. Do you hear me?”

In the moment, Leta cared less for what he was saying and more about calming her husband down. The last time he was this angry, he had punched a hole in the wall.

“Yes, of course,” she repeated during the tirade. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll take care of it.”

“You better, This is not how a man is supposed to live in his own home,” he insisted, as he picked up Dale’s shoes. “In the mean time, I am going to keep these to teach that young fellow a lesson.”

“What are you doing?” Leta demanded, moving to prevent him from leaving the room.

“It’s summer,” Leech explained. “He doesn’t need them.”

“But what about church or going out?” Leta questioned. She was very displeased by Leech’s plan.

“He’ll just have to make do,” Lee snapped.

“For how long?” she then asked.

“As long as it takes until he learns his lesson. Now move aside.” He raised the shoes threateningly. Leta froze defiantly, but only for a few seconds. Then she stepped aside. Her husband pushed past her, slightly knocking her off-balance, as he left the house.

Once he was gone, her own fury became apparent. She clenched her fists and tightened her body. Then she threw her arms down with a grunt. Dale knew better than to leave such things around. He knew that Leech was at his most peevish when he returned from work. He knew better than to engage the man in any sort of argument, that this would result in some unwarranted and complicated result.

She went into the cupboard and poured herself a shot of whiskey, which she sipped while still standing before the open cupboard, the bottle in one hand, glass in the other. After three sips, she swallowed the rest of the shot and then poured herself another one.

Once she had composed herself, she headed up the stairs to talk to her son.

To be continued.